Investigating the role of adversity and benevolence beliefs in predicting prosociality.

BACKGROUND: Does experiencing adversity engender kindness, and if so, for whom? Two studies tested the hypothesis that adversity predicts increased pro-social outcomes, and that this relationship is strongest for individuals who view others as good and trustworthy, or benevolent. METHOD: In Study 1, a cross-sectional survey design was utilized, and in Study 2 a longitudinal survey was conducted. RESULTS: In Study 1 (N = 359), the number of lifetime adverse life events was associated with increased volunteering, empathic concern, and self-reported altruism. The association of adversity and altruism was stronger for those with greater benevolence beliefs. In Study 2 (N = 1157), benevolence beliefs were assessed, and in subsequent years, adverse life events were reported. The number of past-year adverse life events predicted more volunteering and charitable involvement, but only among people with high benevolence beliefs. CONCLUSION: Exposure to adversity may be associated with increased pro-social behavior among those with higher benevolence beliefs. In part, this could be due to benevolence beliefs increasing the expectation that one's efforts will be appreciated and reciprocated.

Ethical challenges during critical phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: An interpretive synthesis.

BACKGROUND: During the most critical phases of COVID-19 pandemic, dramatic situations were experienced in hospitals and care centers that nurses could hardly verbalize. Especially relevant were deep challenges related to terminal illness, situations of extreme sacrifice, as well as reflections on protective measures mixed with beliefs. We intend to analyze which problems had the greatest impact on professionals. AIM: The aim is to explore the ultimate basis for action when making decisions and the orientation of their behavior in the face of moral conflicts. METHOD: The methodological strategy is an interpretive synthesis. Narrative review of academic articles that analyzed ethical dilemmas during the pandemic was carried out by searching five databases (Pubmed, Scopus, Psycinfo, CINHAL, and WOS) between January 2020 and December 2022. Finally, 43 articles were selected. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Ethical requirements were respected in all study phases. RESULTS: The reading and review of the 43 articles initiated the first phase of inductive coding which resulted in 14 initial sub-themes. Based on this structure, a second phase of coding was carried out, giving rise to six categories or emerging themes. To facilitate the process of identifying the central category, the authors agreed to carry out a phase of synthesis, grouping the six themes into three meta-themes: the identification and acceptance of human vulnerability; the discovery of positive paradigms in traumatic situations in society; the prevalence of the common good over the particular interest, as the core structure of any society. CONCLUSION: The study has shown the need to consider healthcare benevolence as a new dimension of health care upon global vulnerability. Responsibility is required to ensure the well-being of a global society, prioritizing the common good over particular interests and building solutions on solid moral structures. A new ethical landscape is essential, starting with a humanistic curricular training of all healthcare professionals.

The Relationship Between the Physician-Patient Relationship, Physician Empathy, and Patient Trust.

BACKGROUND: A trusting physician-patient relationship is an essential component of high-quality care. OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the physician-patient relationship, physician empathy, and patient trust. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3289 patients (response rate 68.6%) from 103 hospitals in eastern, central, and western China completed surveys. MAIN MEASURE: Physician empathy, patient trust, and physician-patient relationship were measured by the Chinese version of Consultation and Relational Empathy Scale, Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale, and Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire, respectively. Bootstrapped mediation analysis was performed. KEY RESULTS: There were moderate to strong correlations between physician empathy, patient overall trust, and patient trust in physician's benevolence and competence, and the physician-patient relationship (r = 0.49-0.75, P < 0.01 for all). Patients' evaluation of physician-patient relationship was predicted by their perception of physician empathy, patient overall trust, and trust in the physician's benevolence. Mediation analysis showed that the indirect effect of physician empathy on physician-patient relationship through patient overall trust was significant (ß = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.15-0.21) and that the mediation effect of patient trust in physician's benevolence was significant (ß = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.20-0.28), though the mediation effect of patient trust in physician's competence was not (ß = 0.01, 95% CI: -0.02 to 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Patients' perception of physician empathy influences their evaluation of the physician-patient relationship both directly and indirectly via patient trust in the physician's benevolence. These findings underline the importance of patient belief in physician benevolence and empathy in building trustful and harmonious relationships between physicians and patients.

Trusting Autonomous Security Robots: The Role of Reliability and Stated Social Intent.

OBJECTIVE: This research examined the effects of reliability and stated social intent on trust, trustworthiness, and one's willingness to endorse use of an autonomous security robot (ASR). BACKGROUND: Human-robot interactions in the domain of security is plausible, yet we know very little about what drives acceptance of ASRs. Past research has used static images and game-based simulations to depict the robots versus actual humans interacting with actual robots. METHOD: A video depicted an ASR interacting with a human. The ASR reviewed access credentials and allowed entrance once verified. If the ASR could not verify one's credentials it instructed the visitor to return to the security checkpoint. The ASR was equipped with a nonlethal device and the robot used this device on one of the three visitors (a research confederate). Manipulations of reliability and stated social intent of the ASR were used in a 2 × 4 between subjects design (N = 320). RESULTS: Reliability influenced trust and trustworthiness. Stated social intent influenced trustworthiness. Participants reported being more favorable toward use of the ASR in military contexts versus public contexts. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that reliability of the ASR and statements regarding the ASR's stated social intent are important considerations influencing the trust process (inclusive of intentions to be vulnerable and trustworthiness perceptions). APPLICATION: If robotic systems are authorized to use force against a human, public acceptance may be increased with availability of the intent-based programming of the robot and whether or not the robot's decision was reliable.

"I Felt Like a Hero:" Adolescents' Understanding of Resolution-Promoting and Vengeful Actions on Behalf of Their Peers.

Bystander intervention on behalf of victims of peer aggression is credited with reducing victimization, yet little is known about how bystanders evaluate their intervention efforts. African-, European-, Mexican-, and Native-American adolescents (N = 266) between 13 and 18 years (Mage = 15.0, 54% female) recounted vengeful and peaceful responses to a peer's victimization. For comparison, they also described acts of personal revenge. Youth's explanations of how they evaluated each action were coded for goals and outcomes. Befitting its moral complexity, self-evaluative rationales for third-party revenge cited more goals than the other two conditions. References to benevolence and lack thereof were more frequent after third-party revenge compared to personal revenge. Concerns that security was compromised and that actions contradicted self-direction were high after both types of revenge. Third-party resolution promoted benevolence, competence, self-direction, and security more than third-party revenge. Epistemic network analyses and thematic excerpts revealed the centrality of benevolence goals in adolescents' self-evaluative thinking. Self-focused and identity-relevant goals were cited in concert with benevolence after third-party intervention.

[How to value the work of geriatric caregivers]. / De l'importance de valoriser le travail des soignants en gériatrie.

Geriatric caregivers are subjected to physically and psychologically demanding situations. A geriatric short-stay service has implemented measures with a unique, creative and dynamic approach. These include participatory management, benevolence and the enhancement of the quality of work.

[Mindfulness meditation for family caregivers]. / La méditation de pleine conscience pour les aidants familiaux.

A significant proportion of elderly people suffering from neurodegenerative pathologies are cared for by an informal caregiver. From the earliest stages of the disease, the psychological and behavioural disorders of patients constitute stress and anxiety factors for their caregivers. Mindfulness meditation has proven its usefulness in the management of anxiety. A study proposes caregiver management based on a mindfulness meditation program.

[A mindfulness meditation group for teenagers]. / Un groupe de méditation pleine conscience auprès d'adolescents.

A cognitive therapy program based on mindfulness meditation has been offered at the "maison des adolescents" of Cochin Hospital for the past year and a half. After their participation, the adolescents were able to talk about their experiences in this group. The latter allows a different, innovative and interesting approach to clinical nursing.

Family-Based Consent for Organ Donation: Benevolence and Reconstructionist Confucianism.

This paper explores organ donation through the perspective of Reconstructionist Confucianism. I argue that for organ donation in China to be morally permissible, public policy must conform to the norms of Confucian benevolence. Reconstructionist Confucianism appreciates benevolence as an objectively important feature of morality deeply connected to moral rules governing propriety, integrity, righteousness, and human freedom. Here, benevolence involves sincere affection for another as an intrinsic good, rather than as a means to achieve other purposes. It requires developing self-restraint and proper respect for others. As I argue, family-based consent is essential for ensuring that organ donation conforms to such an understanding of benevolence and is, thereby, compatible with Confucian culture. Consequently, legislation in China should solidify family-based consent for organ donation to consolidate a benevolent family environment as the basis of morality, law, and social existence.

Confucianism and organ donation: moral duties from xiao (filial piety) to ren (humaneness).

There exists a serious shortage of organs for transplantation in China, more so than in most Western countries. Confucianism has been commonly used as the cultural and ethical reason to explain the reluctance of Chinese and other East-Asian people to donate organs for medical purposes. It is asserted that the Confucian emphasis on xiao (filial piety) requires individuals to ensure body intactness at death. However, based on the original texts of classical Confucianism and other primary materials, we refute this popular view. We base our position on the related Confucian norms of filial piety and ren (humaneness, humanity or benevolence), the tension between differentiated love and universal love, and belief in the goodness of human nature. In light of this, we argue that the Confucian ethical outlook actually calls for organ donation at an individual level, and supports an opt-out (presumed consent) system at the level of social policy. Furthermore, because the popular view is based on a number of dominant but misleading modes of thinking about cultural differences, our revisionist account of Confucian moral duties regarding organ donation has implications for developing a more adequate transcultural and global bioethics. These will be discussed and expanded upon.

Do children go for the nice guys? The influence of speaker benevolence and certainty on selective word learning.

This study investigated how speaker certainty (a rational cue) and speaker benevolence (an emotional cue) influence children's willingness to learn words in a selective learning paradigm. In two experiments four- to six-year-olds learnt novel labels from two speakers and, after a week, their memory for these labels was reassessed. Results demonstrated that children retained the label-object pairings for at least a week. Furthermore, children preferred to learn from certain over uncertain speakers, but they had no significant preference for nice over nasty speakers. When the cues were combined, children followed certain speakers, even if they were nasty. However, children did prefer to learn from nice and certain speakers over nasty and certain speakers. These results suggest that rational cues regarding a speaker's linguistic competence trump emotional cues regarding a speaker's affective status in word learning. However, emotional cues were found to have a subtle influence on this process.

Feeling Better When Someone Is Alike: Poor Emotion Regulators Profit From Pro-Social Values and Priming for Similarities With Close Others.

OBJECTIVE: The dispositional inability to self-regulate one's own emotions intuitively is described as state orientation and has been associated with numerous psychological impairments. The necessity to search for buffering effects against negative outcomes of state orientation is evident. Research suggests that state-oriented individuals can benefit from feeling close to others. Yet, there are individual differences in the extent to which supportive relationships are valued. The objective of the present article was to examine whether high importance of relatedness increases the utilization of its situational activation among state-oriented individuals. METHOD: In two studies, we examined whether situational activation of relatedness (by priming for similarities with a close other) is particularly advantageous for state-oriented individuals who attach high importance to relatedness (i.e., benevolence values). The sample consisted of 170 psychology undergraduates in Study 1 and 177 in Study 2. RESULTS: In both studies, state-oriented participants high in benevolence had reduced negative mood after thinking about similarities (vs. differences). State-oriented participants low in benevolence did not benefit from priming for similarities. In Study 2, physical presence of a close other did not boost priming effects for state-oriented participants but stimulated action-oriented participants to attune their self-regulatory efforts to the context. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that state-oriented individuals who value benevolence do benefit from a situational activation of relatedness.

Communicating trust and trustworthiness through scientists' biographies: Benevolence beliefs.

A goal of many science communicators is to foster trust in scientists and their work. This study investigates if existing textual resources that scientists create in the course of their regular activities can be improved to enhance perceptions of scientists as trustworthy. Building on Mayer et al.'s integrative model of organizational trust, we examine how communicating benevolence through short biographies can affect trustworthiness perceptions using a 3 (degree of benevolence information: high, unspecified, low) × 3 (research area: crop genetics, corn and soy genetics, biotechnology use) survey design. We find that the degree of benevolence information significantly influences perceptions of benevolence and integrity, as well as willingness to trust, with these effects being consistent across different research areas. However, the degree of benevolence communicated had no significant effect on the perceived competence of the scientists. These findings underscore the importance of highlighting benevolence in communication to positively influence trustworthiness perceptions, thus offering insights for science communication practices.

Endorsing Precarious Manhood Beliefs Is Associated With Sexual Harassment Myths Acceptance in Italian Men and Women.

The present study aimed to expand the understanding of the correlates of sexual harassment myths, a set of beliefs that serve to justify male perpetrators. Data collected among Italian adults (N = 407; 59.5% women) showed that individual levels of precarious manhood beliefs-according to which manhood is a social status that must be proven via public action-were related to greater sexual harassment myths acceptance in male and female respondents. Such associations were mediated by hostile sexism and benevolence toward men. Findings suggest that interventions to reduce tolerance of sexual harassment of women should target cultural views of manhood and counteract rigid models of masculinity and femininity.

Ethical Reflection on the "QR code Dilemma" Faced by Older People During COVID-19 in China.

The widespread application of QR code technology is best represented by the health codes used in China's pandemic prevention and control. This technology has enhanced the country's ability to manage the pandemic by achieving higher efficiency and accuracy. Unfortunately, a certain segment of the older population has encountered difficulties in adapting and maintaining their daily activities. This indicates the limitations of QR code technology in achieving social isolation. This article argues that for a more comprehensive pandemic prevention and control policy system to be established, managing the implementation of this very technology should be done in a more humane fashion, i.e. under the guidance of three moral principles: benevolence, justice, and non-maleficence. By doing so, implementation of QR code technology is done in a way that is not only conducive to COVID-19 prevention and control but also mitigate marginalization of the older people. In the post-pandemic era, the socialization of digital technology will accelerate. Therefore, in the field of public health, we should direct attention not only to the fair distribution of resources but also to the issue of identity that arises due to digital divide.

Parental mental health trajectories over the COVID-19 pandemic and links with childhood adversity and pandemic stress.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruptions, with parents of school-age children being identified as a vulnerable population. Limited research has longitudinally tracked the mental health trajectories of parents over the active pandemic period. In addition, parents' history of adverse (ACEs) and benevolent (BCEs) childhood experiences may compound or attenuate the effect of COVID-19 stressors on parental psychopathology. OBJECTIVE: To identify distinct longitudinal trajectories of parental mental health over the COVID-19 pandemic and how these trajectories are associated with parental ACEs, BCEs, and COVID-19 stress. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 547 parents of 5-18-year-old children from the U.K., U.S., Canada, and Australia. METHODS: Growth mixture modelling was used to identify trajectories of parental mental health (distress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and substance use) from May 2020 to October 2021. COVID-19 stress, ACEs, and BCEs were assessed as predictors of mental health trajectories via multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Two-class trajectories of "Low Stable" and "Moderate Stable" symptoms were identified for psychological distress and anxiety. Three-class trajectories of "Low Stable", "High Stable", and "High Decreasing" symptoms were observed for post-traumatic stress. Reliable trajectories for substance use could not be identified. Multinomial logistic regression showed that COVID-19 stress and ACEs independently predicted membership in trajectories of greater mental health impairment, while BCEs independently predicted membership in trajectories of lower psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Parents experienced mostly stable mental health symptomatology, with trajectories varying by overall symptom severity. COVID-19 stress, ACEs, and BCEs each appear to play a role in parents' mental health during this unique historical period.

[A satisfied intern is a future professional ready to commit]. / « Un stagiaire satisfait est un futur professionnel prêt à s'engager ¼.

Providing trainees with a caring and supportive environment that is tailored to their needs remains crucial. This allows them to learn and grow professionally, but not only. It motivates them, makes them want to continue and, why not, to join their internship field as professionals once they graduate. This is perfectly demonstrated by the testimony of Victoria Heulin, a second-year nursing student in Saint-Étienne.

Positive Impact, Creativity, and Innovative Behavior at Work: The Mediating Role of Basic Needs Satisfaction.

In recent research, a growing body of empirical evidence suggests that prosocial impact at work can play a significant role in enhancing creativity and innovativeness. Drawing from self-determination theory, we hypothesized that basic psychological needs and benevolence satisfaction could serve as a mediating factor in the relation between an employee's perceived social impact and innovative work behavior and creativity, thus illuminating the manner in which the contentment of psychological needs fosters inventive proclivities within the organizational milieu. Results from a study in Greece and Canada (N = 528) showed that both perceived social impact and prosocial motivation are positively associated with innovative work behavior and creativity while autonomy and competence satisfaction mediate the relation between perceived social impact and the work outcomes examined within this study. Moreover, prosocial motivation was found to moderate the relation between benevolence satisfaction and innovativeness. Findings extend prior research on the role of prosociality on creative behavior at work and provide supporting evidence for the organizations that encourage and support employees' initiatives to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

A study on the influence of product environmental information transparency on online consumers' purchasing behavior of green agricultural products.

Introduction: In 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 has forced consumers to shift their consumption patterns online. However, the problem of online fraud in green agricultural products seriously undermines consumer trust and is detrimental to the sustainable consumption of green agricultural products. Therefore, it is particularly important to enhance consumers' trust in online sellers. This study aims to investigate how the product environmental information transparency(soil information transparency and water information transparency) affects online consumers' purchasing behavior of green agricultural products. Methods: This study constructs a theoretical framework of "product environmental information transparency - online consumer trust - online purchase behavior".We conducted an online randomized questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 512 consumers who had experience buying green agricultural products online fitted a structural equation model (SEM). Results: The results show that (1) the two dimensions of product environmental information transparency have different effects on different dimensions of online consumer trust. Among them, soil information transparency has a significant positive effect on competence trust, while it does not have a significant positive effect on benevolence trust. Water information transparency has a significant positive effect on both dimensions of online consumer trust, (2) online consumer trust has a significant positive effect on online consumer purchase behavior, and (3) competence trust has a significant positive effect on benevolence trust. Discussion: Our study shows that consumer trust in merchants is significantly enhanced by increasing the transparency of environmental information about green agricultural products. different dimensions of environmental information transparency have different effects on different dimensions of online consumer trust. Product information transparency is proposed as a tool for producers to use in the online marketing of green agricultural products. Consumers' access to information can be improved through online public disclosure of environmental quality indicators in the production process of green agricultural products, and ultimately enhance online consumption of green agricultural products.

What are you assessing when you measure "trust" in scientists with a direct measure?

This article analyzes three publicly available datasets focused on trust in science and scientists. It specifically seeks to understand what direct measures of trust (i.e. questions that directly ask respondents how much they trust scientists) assess in terms of discrete measures of trustworthiness (i.e. perceptions of scientists' ability, integrity, and benevolence). Underlying the analyses is a concern that direct measures of trust are a poor substitute for differentiating between discrete trustworthiness perceptions and behavioral trust in the form of a specific willingness to make oneself vulnerable. The research concludes that it is unclear what direct trust measures are capturing in any given context and suggests that researchers should better use trust-related theory when designing surveys and trust-focused campaigns. The secondary data used come from the General Social Survey, Gallup, and the Pew Research Center.